Tiverton Farm Animal Sanctuary up for National Award
- Oct 6, 2024
- 6 min read
The West Place Animal Sanctuary has been helping to improve the lives of abused and neglected farm animals since 2007. The organization is a finalist for a Defender Service Award, recognizing nonprofits that make a positive impact in their communities.
October 7, 2024
Luis Hernandez
West Place Animal Sanctuary in Tiverton was recently named a finalist for the Defender Service Awards, a national competition that recognizes nonprofits that make a positive impact in their communities. It's the state's oldest and largest sanctuary for farm animals rescued from abuse, neglect, and cruelty. The group's founder and executive director Wendy Taylor spoke with morning host Luis Hernandez about the work being done at the sanctuary to improve the lives of abused and neglected animals.
TRANSCRIPT:
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Luis Hernandez: Wendy, it's such a pleasure. Thank you so much.
Wendy Taylor: Thank you.
Hernandez: By the way, congratulations on being a finalist. I want to go back to 2003. At the time you were a litigation attorney, the managing partner at a law firm. I want to know why you left that profession to establish the West Place Animal Sanctuary.
Taylor: Sometimes I question that myself, but the reason why was in 2003, I had a house fire. I lost all of my belongings, which are replaceable, but all of my pets also perished in that fire. A friend of mine said I should donate to another organization to balance the scales. I could have done that, but lawyers being who we are, I figured, why not start an organization of my own? So I started a farm animal rescue in order to be able to save some of the underrepresented populations of animals. Everybody loves dogs and cats. Everybody knows dogs and cats. Not a lot of light was being shined on farm animals.
Hernandez: What was it like in those early days?
Taylor: It was me and a bunch of animals and I was still working in the city practicing law and I would have weekend volunteers so I would take care of everyone before I left and then I would take care of everyone when I got back home and then I had some people help out on the weekends but it was a little crazy. I think the funniest thing was people who were used to me dealing with the animals were always shocked when they saw me in a suit and everyone at the law firm was always shocked when they saw a picture of me in casual clothes. But other than that, the transition for me that I made was – I would like to say it was well thought out, but it wasn't. Just one day, my husband came to me and said you've been working two full time jobs for many, many years, and the sanctuary is growing and getting bigger. You can't keep working two jobs, you need to pick one. So, I think it was over a glass of wine one night, he just posed that question to me, and I chose the sanctuary. I had represented humans for decades, and it was time to represent animals. So, it was the right thing to do.
Hernandez: I'm wondering, how do animals come under your care? How do they end up with you?
Taylor: Because we rescue from neglect, abuse, and cruelty, we primarily are working with the authorities, police departments, animal control officers, local SPCAs or other organizations, and we even worked along with the National ASPCA. So we don't take owner surrenders. It's always an animal that has been seized or needs to be seized from a bad situation.
Hernandez: And right now, how many animals are at the sanctuary?
Taylor: Everybody asks that question, and the number changes every day. Above ground, probably about a hundred. And I’ll say below ground, because we have a large pond here that houses rescued turtles and Japanese koi, probably another two hundred in that aquatic atmosphere.
Hernandez: Give me an idea of what the staff at West Place do exactly to help these animals. Again, because you're getting these abused and neglected animals. What are some of the things they have to do in helping them?
Taylor: Each time a new animal comes in, especially if it's a new species, I will put together several different plans, a medical plan, an exercise, a nutritional plan, skin conditioning, and we will teach the staff and the volunteers how to implement those plans so that each animal gets cultivated and curated care while they are recuperating from whatever was ailing them.
Hernandez: This is not the first time that West Place has been named a finalist for the Defender Service Awards. What do you think it is that has led to this facility gaining so much widespread recognition over the years?
Taylor: I wish I knew the answer to that. I love that the public loves us and that they support what we do. Farm animals have gotten more and more recognition over the last two decades. I think what's most important is these service awards have been given out for the last four years, and we've made the finals three of those four years. We really feel like third time's a charm, as everyone says, and this really should be our year.
Hernandez: There's a grand prize with this, right?
Taylor: There is a grand prize. There’s a number of prizes. There is a financial component. There's just national recognition for our service in our community and beyond. And of course, there is also a Land Rover Defender 130 that comes as part of the prize as well, which will be a huge help to our organization. We could certainly use the vehicle to do more rescues.
Hernandez: I'm wondering how you view everything that you've done with West Place. Is this your life legacy?
Taylor: It absolutely is, and here we talk about that a lot. It's making sure that our organization continues to grow and stay sustainable so that long after I'm gone, which I hope is not too soon, that West Place will continue on in perpetuity.
Hernandez: When West Place officially opened in 2007, you dedicated the sanctuary to the nine animals that you lost in that fire that you were talking about, the house fire. How often do you think about them?
Taylor: I think about them a lot. If not every day, a lot. But we've also lost a number – well, every rescue that we lost was a great rescue. But of course, here we all have our favorites and we have those rescues that were just quintessentially the face of the organization. So those that we've lost since we've started are on my mind every day, as well. And, our greatest and longest rescue, her name is Erna, she's a crested Pekin duck. I'm still talking about her in the present, but unfortunately, we lost her at 17 and a half years old, so she was the very first rescue we took in the day we opened our doors, and we're trying to figure out how to live without her because there's never been a day at West Place without Erna.
Hernandez: I'm wondering what happened in your life or what is it about your experience that is the reason you have so much passion for this? Why do you have so much passion for the work you’re doing?
Taylor: That’s a really good question. I don’t know. I either did something right or I did something wrong, but it led me to this path. I give 100% to everything that I do. Maybe sometimes it's a little too much, but that's what these animals need. I might get older and I might get more tired as the years and the decades go on with West Place, but we just keep going. We have about a hundred volunteers, so we've got a lot of great people that help move the mission along. It's not just me anymore. It's the support that we all give to each other and we give to the animals.
Hernandez: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Taylor: There's a lot of ways to get involved with West Place. Of course … voting to help us with this service award would be amazing. It's free. It doesn't cost anything and it takes about five seconds a day. We are giving out some prizes for people who engage with us and get involved with us during these next two weeks.
Hernandez: I've been speaking with Wendy Taylor, founder and executive director of West Place Animal Sanctuary in Tiverton. Wendy, it's been such a pleasure. Thank you so much and good luck.
Taylor: Thank you so much.
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